Directive on the Use of Official Languages on Web Sites

Effective date

This directive comes into effect on July 15, 2005. This directive and the Directive on the Use of Official Languages in Electronic Communications replace the following policy:

• Policy on using the Official Languages on Electronic Networks

Directive statement

A Web site of an institution respects the institution's linguistic obligations regarding communications with and services to the public, as well as language of work. It reflects the equality of status of English and French. The English and French versions of a Web site of an institution are of equal quality and are available simultaneously. Subject to the requirements set out in this directive, a Web site may be in one or both official languages.

Application

This directive applies to all institutions subject to Parts IV or V of the Official Languages Act (OLA), with the exception of the Senate, the House of Commons, the Library of Parliament, the Office of the Senate Ethics Officer and the Office of the Ethics Commissioner.

Related policies

The institutions in question must also apply the following policies:

• Policy on the Use of Official Languages for Communications with and Services to the Public - for institutions subject to Part IV of the Official Languages Act.
• Policy on Language of Work - for institutions subject to Part V of the Official Languages Act.

Institutions must also respect the official languages obligations set out in the list of related policy instruments.

Requirements

Accountability

Deputy heads are accountable for implementing this directive in their institutions.

Expected results

Communications with and services to the public

The institution respects its linguistic obligations when it uses a Web site to communicate with and to serve the public.

Obligations of an office or facility designated bilingual

An office or facility designated bilingual respects the public's right to communicate with and receive services in the official language of the public's choice, in accordance with the requirements set out in the Policy on the Use of Official Languages for Communications with and Services to the Public. The office or facility's Web site is available simultaneously in both official languages.

An office or facility designated bilingual ensures that a third party acting on its behalf respects the public's language rights. The contract or agreement with a third party includes clauses setting out the office or facility's linguistic obligations with which the third party must comply. The office or facility designated bilingual ensures that the two official languages are of equal quality when a third party provides communications and services on its behalf.

An office or facility designated bilingual that posts information on a Web site of an entity not subject to the OLA ensures that:

• the office or facility's information is in both official languages; and
• a notice precedes the information to indicate clearly that the information originates from that office or facility.

If the office or facility enters into a collaborative agreement with an entity not subject to the OLA concerning such a site, the agreement includes clauses setting out the linguistic obligations of the parties involved.

Special circumstances

Under certain conditions, an office or facility designated bilingual may, as a courtesy, make available to the public on its Web site:

• information in one official language only, without changing the content, when that information is provided by entities not subject to the OLA;
• comments from the public in the language in which the comments were received, provided that no changes are made and that no feedback is requested on those comments;
• a hyperlink to a unilingual Web site of an entity not subject to the OLA. In that case, the office or facility is not responsible for the fact that the content of that site is not in both official languages.

The office or facility posts a notice explaining that the information is not available in both official languages because the source of the information is not subject to the OLA.

The circumstances set out above do not exempt the institution from its obligation to serve the public in both official languages.

Obligations of a unilingual office or facility

A Web site of a unilingual office or facility is available in the official language of the majority of the population of the province or territory where the office or facility is located only when the content of the site is intended exclusively for the public served by that office or facility.

The unilingual office or facility may post information in only one official language on the site of an entity not subject to the OLA. Such information is clearly identified and a bilingual message indicates that the information is in only one official language because it is intended exclusively for the public served by that office or facility.

A third party communicates with or serves the public on behalf of a unilingual office or facility by means of this office or facility's Web site in the official language of the majority of the population of the province or territory where the office or facility is located only if the content of the Web site of the unilingual office or facility is intended exclusively for the public served by that office or facility.

Language of work

Obligations related to a Web site intended for employees located in regions designated as bilingual for language-of-work purposes

It is the institution's responsibility to create and maintain a work environment conducive to the effective use of both official languages by enabling its staff to use either language. The institution respects the right of employees to work and to communicate with it in the official language of their choice, in accordance with the requirements set out in the Policy on Language of Work. The institution ensures that communications with and services to employees delivered by means of a Web site are in both official languages simultaneously, regardless of the entity to which this responsibility is given.

Special circumstances

Under certain conditions, the institution may, as a courtesy, make available to employees on its Web site:

• information in one official language only, without changing the content, when that information is provided by entities not subject to the OLA;
• comments from employees in the language in which the comments were received, provided that no changes are made and that no feedback is requested on those comments;
• a hyperlink to a unilingual Web site of an entity not subject to the OLA. In that case, the institution is not responsible for the fact that the content of that site is not in both official languages.

The institution posts a notice explaining that the information is not available in both official languages because the source of the information is not subject to the OLA.

A controlled-access site accessible only to employees may be in only one official language when:

• the site is accessible only to employees working in one or more unilingual regions for language-of-work purposes, where the language of work is the same. Therefore, the site is in that official language.
• the site is accessible only to employees working in one or more regions designated as bilingual for language-of-work purposes, and they have all individually identified in an objective manner a preference for the same official language. Therefore, the site is in that official language.

Documents produced by the employees who use the site are subject to all relevant official languages obligations if they are disseminated off the site.

The circumstances set out above do not exempt the institution from its obligation to communicate with employees in both official languages.

Obligations related to a Web site intended for employees located in unilingual regions for language-of-work purposes

A Web site of an institution is available in the official language that predominates in the province or territory where the employees are located when the content of the site is intended exclusively for them.

The institution may provide access to bilingual work instruments or services to its employees located in unilingual regions for language-of-work purposes by means of a Web site. However, in doing so, the treatment of the two official languages must be comparable between regions where one language or the other predominates.

Service providers acting on behalf of an institution communicate with and provide services to employees in unilingual regions for language-of-work purposes by means of a Web site in the official language that predominates in the province or territory where the employees are located.

Obligations related to a Web site intended for the public and employees

A controlled-access site accessible to members of the public and to employees may be in only one official language if it meets all of the following three conditions:

• the site belongs to a unilingual office or facility;
• the site is accessible only to employees located in one or more unilingual regions for language-of-work purposes where the language of work is the same;
• the language of the majority of the population of the province or territory served by the office or facility and the language of work of the unilingual region are the same.

Therefore, the site is in that language.

Implementation procedures

Procedures related to Web sites required to be in both official languages

• The institutional signature appears in both official languages on the welcome page.
• The domain name of the welcome page:

• The greeting or other introductory text appears on the welcome page in both official languages in the prescribed order and navigation links marked "English" and "Français" are provided so that users can choose the official language in which to access content.
• Within the site, each page includes a navigation link marked "English" or "Français" that enables users to access the equivalent page in the other official language.
• The values of metadata elements and attributes for any given Web page are expressed in the official language(s) used on the page. Optionally, other languages may also be used. This requirement does not apply to element names, attribute names or any values expressed as standardized codes.
• An office or facility of an institution that posts information or whose information is posted on a site on its behalf ensures that:

• Information for employees that is required to be in both official languages includes among others:

• An office or facility of an institution that provides a hyperlink to a unilingual site clearly informs users that the content of the site is not available in both official languages.
• An office or facility of an institution that posts, on a site, information intended exclusively for employees located in a unilingual region for language-of-work purposes clearly indicates in both official languages that this information is intended for these employees only.
• The text equivalents and other non-textual elements used to describe the purpose and functions of images and graphics displayed on a page of a Web site are in the language of that page.
• Server messages are in the language of the page consulted on a Web site or, if the technology cannot offer a language choice for server messages, the messages are in both official languages.

Procedures related to Web sites not required to be in both official languages

• The institutional signature appears in both official languages on the welcome page.
• The welcome page includes a bilingual message indicating that, under the OLA, the site provides information in one official language only. This message also informs users of a hyperlink to another site of the same institution that provides general information in both official languages.
• If the welcome page of a unilingual site contains a navigation link, the link is labelled with a term such as "Content" or "Access" and not with the name of the official language of the office or facility using the site (i.e., "English" or "Français").
• The greeting and other introductory text appearing on the welcome page are in the official language of the site.
• When documentation and regularly and widely used work instruments are posted on a Web site, they are in both official languages when they are intended for employees located in unilingual regions for language-of-work purposes who provide bilingual services.

Procedures related to multilingual Web sites

If a Web site is required to be in both official languages and other languages are used on that site in addition to English and French:

• the information is at a minimum in both official languages;
• the equality of status of English and French is respected; and
• each page in a language that is not one of the two official languages has navigation links marked "English" and "Français" that provide users with access to the equivalent pages in each of the two official languages.

Monitoring and reporting

The Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada (PSHRMAC) is responsible for determining the method for assessing performance and monitoring implementation of this directive in institutions.

Each institution is responsible for keeping its records and information systems up to date and assessing results in order to report on them to the PSHRMAC on request. At a minimum, the institution assesses the following:

• effectiveness of measures in place to ensure that a Web site of an office or facility designated bilingual is available simultaneously in both official languages;
• effectiveness of measures in place to ensure that a Web site intended for employees located in regions designated as bilingual for language-of-work purposes is available simultaneously in both official languages;
• effectiveness of measures in place to ensure that a third party acting on behalf of an office or facility designated bilingual respects the linguistic obligations of that office or facility;
• effectiveness of measures in place to ensure that a controlled-access site respects the obligations set out in this directive;
• number of complaints concerning the use of both official languages on Web sites that the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages determined to be founded.

When assessment of the results reveals that the directive has not been respected, the institution reports the situation to the PSHRMAC and takes appropriate corrective action.

Consequences

Enquiries

For further information, please contact the person responsible for official languages in your institution.